Mine-door.



vN. JAGHO.

MINE DOOR.

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MLIINE D003. I AP'ELIOMIQB NLRB JUNE v. 1912.

1,052,147. Patented Feb.4, 1913.

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FFIE- NICOLA JACHO, OF ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

MINE-DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented niet. a, isis.

Application l'ld .Tune 7, 1912. Serial No. 702,257.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, NICOLA J ACHo, a subject of the King of Italy, residing at Allentown, county of Lehigh, and State of Pennsylvanim. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mine-Doors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mine doors or gates and more particularly to the 'class of doors or gates used in connect-ion with mines equipped with railways.

The object of the present invention is to provide a door of the character described, which in normal or closed position extends transversely across the track, equipped with means for automatically swinging the same t0 open position upon the approachV of a car from either direction.

A further fobject of, my invention is to provide a door lactuating mechanism which' shall normallyhold the door in closed posi` tion transversely across the track, and which,

'to normal or closed .'has passed.

at the approach of a ca-r or train from either direction, will automatically swing the door to open position in a direction away from the approaching car or train, returning same position after the car With the above recited objects in view as well as others which will be apparent when the nature of the invention is better understood, my invention resides. in a depressible rail positioned adjacent to and extending longitudinally of a traction rail of a mine railway, the said depressible rail being extended in either direction beyond the,

door in order that the door may be operated from .-a point distant from the door in` ,tached to the depressible rail whereby the mechanism shall be returned to normal position when lthe depressible rail is released,

and a signaling device adapted to be con-'- trollled by the movements of the depressible rai In the drawings:-Figure l is a plan view of a railway track equippedlwith' av device embodying my invention, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, a part of thev door post being broken away to better sh'ow the construction, Fig. 3 is an enlarged sec- I tion taken upon the line -m ofFig; 2 and looking in the direction indicated by the.

arrows, Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged views/of the trip mechanism, and Fig. 6 is a plan' view of the signaling apparatus.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 1 and 2 represent the ordinary traction rails of a mine railway and 3 the ties to which the rails are securely fastened. The depressible rail member, as indicated at 4, lies adjacent to either of the traction rails and extends parallel therewith a suitablev distance each side of the gate or door, and is adapted to be depressed by the weight of the car wheel. This depressible rail is supported in position by a plurality of rocker arms 5, which arms are pivotally securedA to ,the web of the traction rail 2 by means of/bolts 6. The rocker arms 5 extend below the pivot points .5 and have secured to their ends a connecting rail or bar 7. This con` necting bar extends substantially the entire' length of the depressible rail 4 and it is obvious that when the wheel of a ear dtpresses the depressible rail, a longitudinal movement Ywill be imparted to the bar 7 by means of the rocker arms 5.

The door or gate 8 is pivoted at one side of the track in the door frame by means of the pintle 9. The pint-le 9 has its ends journaled in thev upper and lower cross beams of the doorframe, and carries adjacent itsi lower end a pinionlO. The'pinion 10 is keyed or otherwise rigidly secured to the pintle and is engaged by a segment 11, also pivotally secured to the base beam of the door frame. The segment 11, at a point diametrically opposite the door supporting pintle is provided with an arm 12 to which are pivotally secured the ends of operating links 13 and 14. The links 13 and ll extend in opposite directions from the arm l2 of the segment and are fastened at their ends to the connecting bar 7.

any:

` llt will be observed that when in normal or inoperative position thefconnecting points at the extremities ot the rocker arms are in vertical alinement with the pivot pointl thereot' so that the device is inoperative until the deprcssible rail is thrown ofi' center.` To throw thel mechanism into operative position at the approach ot ac'ar or train l provide at each end. oit' the depressible rail and at a. position between the traction rails, a trip mechanism` This trip mechanism is indicatcd at l and consists of an arm 1G, one end ot which is loosely mounted upon the bolt il', the other end extending downwardly to engage a bar 17, vwhich baris in turn connected with the connecting bar 7. Pivotally mountedupon the bolt 6, adjacent the arm 16, is a trippingiinger or pawl'l. rIhis pawl 1S vis provided with a laterally extending lug 19, which entends across the arml and is adapted to engage a shoulder 20 upon theupper end thereof. The pawl 18 is heldin ,vertical or engaging position by means of a leaf-spring 21 attached to the arm 1G. lt is obvious that this arrangement will, when tripped by an approaching car,operate the'connecl'ing bar sutlicien't to overcome the aforementioned dead center and it is designedto be operated at a time just betore the first wheel of the car contacts the dcpressible rail. When tripped by a car traveling in a direction away from-the door, the pawl 1S 'willnot operate the arm 1G, but will idle back and forth and will be returned to vertical position by means ot spring 2l after the train has passedf'By having a trip mechanism at each end ot' the dcpressible rail to give initial movement to the rail in the proper direction, it will be seen that the mechanism. will be operated to open the gate in the direction away from the approaching ca r or train, irrespective of the direction ot the approach of the car or train. l For the purpose ot restoring the mechanism' to normal position after the depressibie rail has been released, springs 22 are provided which are preferably connected to the ends of the connecting bar 7.

ln order .tl'iat persons or cars on the opposite sides ofthe door may be .warned ot the approach of a ear from beyond the door, a'signal 23 is provided. This may consist of an ordinary semaphore arranged at a distance each sidev of the door and so connected to the door operating mechanism that the signal on the opposite side of the door only,

vfrom that approached by the car, will be operated. To this end I provide the usual rotatable lamp Q3 to which is rigidly cured a horizontally disposed arm 2li. The arm L9/l is operated by a link 2.3 which is attached to the connecting bar 7. An clon gated slot is provided in the end ot' the linlr Q5 adjacent roc arm il to receiif'e a pin 2G nal upon the opposite side of the door from that approached by the car alone will be operated.

The operation et the device islas follows:

the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l, the car lirst engages the pawl 18 thereby tl'irowing the depressible rail into a position that will actuate the mechanism to open the gate in a direction away from the car, and will at the same time, operate the Sernan phore beyond the gate to warn' persons or cars there of the approach of the car mentioned @wing to the slotted connection oli' the link' 25 and the pin- 26 of the semaphore arm, Ait will be obvious that the signal. upon the side; of the door from which the car is approaching lwill not operate, but will remain clear. passed'by the door 'and is clear of Athe depressiblo rail, the mechanism is automat'- .cally returned to operative position and the signal' indicates a clear track.

` Having described my invention what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is t kvlv lhe combination with a railway track, a mounted beside the track and adapted normally to entend. across the same., means comprising a deprcssible rail adapted to be actuated by the wheels of a car approaching depressible rail with the gate whereby the gate will be swung to open position away trom the approaching car, trip mechanisms positioned on the track a suitable distance in each direction beyond the gate for initially actuating said depressible rail, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a railway track, a gate ,mounted beside the track and adapted normally to extend across the same, means actuated by the wheels of a car approaching from either direction, means connecting the depressible rail with the gate whereby the gate will be swung to open position away from the approaching car, trip mechanisms positioned on the track a suitable distance in each direction beyond the gate for initially actuating said depressible rail, and means for returning said gate and said gate actuating mechanism to normal position when the said depressible rail has been relieved et pressure, substantially as described.

The combination with a railway track, a gate mounted beside the track and adapted nism connected with said gate and adapted to be operated by an approaching car, to swing said gate to open position, a trip adapted to impart initial movement to said mechanism, said trip consisting of an arm pirolully mounted adjacent the traction on said acm, .ily this construction the sigi rails, a pawl mounted adjacent said` arm Assuming that a car is approaching from comprising a depressible rail adapted to loeV After the car or train has frein either direction, means connecting the normally to extend across the same, mechaand adapted to be ebntacted by a car, a lat- @rally/extending finger upon said pawl, said arm being provided with a shoulder, adapted to be engaged by said finger, means for holding said. finger normally into engagement with said shoulder so that said arm will be rotated WhenAsnid pnwl is moved in one direction but will remain idle when moved in the opposite direction, a bar connecting the free end of vseid arm to said' mechanism whereby the latter Will be aescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

NICOLA JAC/H0.

Witnesses:

FRANCESCO DONi-ufmo, GEORGE E. BoYLE. 

